SAN FERNANDO, Calif.—A Hawthorne man who was arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend’s 7-year-old daughter—whom authorities said died after falling from a moving vehicle onto the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway—was charged July 6 with a misdemeanor count of child abuse.
Michael Aaron Branch, 39, pleaded not guilty in a San Fernando courtroom to one count of child abuse under circumstances or conditions other than great bodily injury or death.
